Leavitt brings notoriety to small town

Cathy Scott

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1998 | 9:51 a.m.

OVERTON -- Besides shining a national spotlight on this quaint desert town, some residents say the anthrax case has been an unexpected boon to the local economy.

FBI agents, posted at and searching William Job Leavitt Jr.'s properties, have been eating a steady diet of hamburgers and sandwiches from Burger King and Blimpie's, the only fast-food restaurants in nearby Logandale.

Leavitt, an Overton resident, was arrested last week with Larry Wayne Harris of Lancaster, Ohio, after a source told the FBI Leavitt and Harris were planning to test military-grade anthrax. But charges were dropped Monday against Leavitt and Harris after tests revealed the anthrax was instead a livestock-grade vaccine.

Some Overton residents appeared to handle the influx of FBI agents in unmarked cars and media in vans and satellite trucks to this town 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas with a sense of humor, while others were visibly angry.

As the media stood across the street from Leavitt's house and labs on Moapa Valley Boulevard, many residents throughout the weekend honked at reporters or yelled, "Get outta here," "Go home" and "Mind your own business." A few used obscene gestures.

Children on a school bus cheered and waved as they rode by the house while FBI agents were searching the property on one side of Moapa Valley Boulevard and the media photographed from the other side of the street.

At a Garcia's Hair Salon in Logandale, employees were treating the case with humor. The salon gave customers glass test tubes filled with colored sand and labeled them with various anthrax bacteria "strains."

"You've gotta laugh at it," hair stylist Deb Sendusky said. "Last week the biggest story in our newspaper was illegal burning without permits. This week, we have anthrax. It's the talk of the town. Everywhere you go, that's all anybody is talking about."

On the other hand, John Robinson, publisher and editor of the weekly Moapa Valley Progress, said: "It's getting kind of old. A lot of people think the FBI is intruding on the Leavitt family's privacy."

As for a sometime negative reaction from people toward the media, he said: "It's a natural reaction. You have to realize this is the first time anything of this magnitude has happened in the Moapa Valley. The main headache has been the concern for the Leavitt family themselves."

At Burger King and Blimpie's, FBI agents posted at Leavitt's properties throughout the weekend ordered a steady flow of sandwiches, as did the media. A family-owned market was also crowded with more customers than the usual flow, an employee said.

The only gas station in Logandale, an AM-PM convenience store, was selling a record quantity of fuel, a store clerk said.

Logandale used to be known as the town where Wayne Newton raised Aramus Arabian horses. Several years ago, Newton sold the ranch for $1.3 million to put toward his debts after he filed bankruptcy. The ranch is about two miles from Leavitt's home.

"Before Wayne Newton sold his horse ranch, a lot of people used to come to visit," Robinson said. "Now, merchants are hoping with the national attention, maybe when people are driving on Interstate 15 and see the Logandale sign, they'll turn off and come and see what it's like here."